Chapter 35: Gold Making

Right after understanding what I needed to do next, I went back to Pero, who was still busy managing his small merchant stand. I didn’t want to simply disappear without leaving any explanation behind, especially after everything he had done for me during our journey, so I decided to tell him about my plans.

Thankfully, Pero understood my intentions without trying to stop me. He even gave me some food for the journey, insisting that I would need something to eat if I intended to spend several days away from the settlement. I thanked him before gathering my belongings and preparing to leave.

I passed through another gate on the opposite side of Triandum, one that led directly toward the mountain I had been told about earlier. During my preparations, I had learned that the mountain was called Decium, a name that apparently meant Decaying Mountain.

The journey did not take particularly long. The mountain was far less difficult to traverse than the enormous mountain near the dwarven settlement that I had climbed almost every day during my training. Compared to those brutal climbs, Decium felt almost like an ordinary hill.

Still, the moment I entered the mountain’s surrounding forest, I was attacked.

Something suddenly burst from between the trees and lunged directly toward me.

I immediately stepped aside.

There was no reason to panic. I had encountered this exact creature multiple times during my training, so its movements were already familiar to me.

The creature possessed eight powerful legs, two enormous red eyes, and a grotesque mouth filled with flesh-colored fangs. Its body was protected by a massive rounded shell covered entirely in overlapping scales.

It lunged again.

But I quickly dodged.

It attacked once more. But it was futile; I stepped around it and tightened my grip around the Daggers of Divinity.

"You’re persistent."

The creature charged.

I swung the dagger and struck its body with overwhelming force, sending the creature flying through the forest. Its massive body crashed through several trees before finally hitting the ground, where it stopped moving.

I stared at the corpse for a moment.

That was easy. Still, there was no reason to waste a perfectly valuable creature.

I began carefully extracting everything I thought might have some value. I removed its scales, collected its eyes, and salvaged whatever other usable materials I could find. I had never worked as a hunter or merchant outside my village, but even I knew that certain monster parts could be used for medicine, equipment, and other purposes.

Once I had gathered everything, I stuffed the materials into a large sack and began my journey back to Triandum.

By the time I returned, dawn was approaching.

I wasn’t particularly surprised by how easy the hunt had been. After all, I was someone blessed by God.

When I arrived at the merchant’s stand, I placed the heavy sack in front of the young woman with orange hair and freckles.

She stared at it.

Then she looked at me. Then looked back at the sack.

"You gathered all of this in one day?"

Her voice carried enough disbelief that several nearby merchants and travelers began gathering around us.

I remained silent as I watched them inspect the contents.

"Newbie’s luck," someone muttered.

"Maybe he just found a dead one."

I didn’t bother responding as it would bring no value in proving myself with words.

The young merchant eventually finished examining the materials and handed me a small pouch filled with gold coins.

I stared at it for a moment.

It seemed rather small than I expected. Then I remembered Pero.

The traveling merchant had carried almost half a sack of gold with him, which had initially made me wonder why this woman had given me so little. But the answer quickly became obvious.

Pero was a traveling merchant.

This woman was simply a regular merchant operating within the settlement. The difference in their wealth suddenly made much more sense.

I accepted the payment and used part of it to purchase food, water, and several additional sacks. I wanted enough supplies to last at least a week.

I intended to stay in Decium for an entire week, hunting as many creatures as I could and gathering every valuable material I could find. The small pouch of gold I had earned earlier was nowhere near enough for what I wanted. I wanted to return with the same kind of wealth Pero carried, enough gold to support myself through my upcoming journey without constantly worrying about where my next meal would come from.

With my supplies secured, I returned to the Decaying Forest, carrying everything I had purchased on my back. The farther I traveled from Triandum, the quieter the surroundings became, until the sounds of civilization were completely replaced by rustling leaves, distant animal cries, and the occasional movement hidden among the trees.

Eventually, I found a relatively flat area suitable for a temporary camp. I placed my supplies down and began constructing a simple shelter using hides, branches, and other materials I had gathered during my travels. It wasn’t comfortable, but it would be enough to protect me while I spent the next several days hunting.

I looked toward the deeper parts of the forest, tightening the straps around my equipment.

"I’m going to earn as much gold as I possibly can."

Immediately after waking, I ventured deeper into the forest and began hunting every monster I encountered along the way. I did not limit myself to creatures with valuable scales either, as I had learned that some merchants were willing to purchase internal organs and other monster parts for medicinal purposes. Unfortunately, I could not carry everything back to camp, especially the organs that would spoil quickly, so I prioritized the heart, eyes, and anything else that seemed durable enough to preserve.

Over the following days, I encountered all kinds of creatures within Decium. Some were the same eight-legged monsters I had fought before, while others were enormous elongated insects with strangely shaped bodies and powerful jaws. Every time I returned to camp, another sack was added to the growing pile of materials I had gathered.

By the fourth day, the number of sacks had become almost ridiculous. They were piled around my temporary shelter in such quantities that even some of the surrounding creatures seemed to avoid the area, perhaps frightened by the unfamiliar scent of blood and dead monsters.

I didn’t really mind.

I had already accomplished what I came here to do.

There was no point staying any longer simply to make the pile larger when I already had enough materials to earn the fortune I wanted. All that remained was to return to Triandum, sell everything I had gathered, and finally see just how much gold a single week of hunting could actually earn me.